Hoshiarpur - It is very sad that the Punjab Government has not paid the medical bills of the pensioners and their dependents as well as the still serving officers and employees. Despite the repeated demands of the unions from the government, no concrete solution is coming out. Due to which the pensioners and these servicemen are facing trouble.
This was said by Sanjeev Arora, retired Superintendent of Municipal Corporation and President of Bharat Vikas Parishad and eminent social worker in a press statement issued here today. Mr. Arora said that earlier, medical bills up to Rs 50,000 were paid by the Punjab government through the civil surgeon. And the amount more than this was arranged to be paid by the Director Health But now the government has paid this. Bills up to Rs.100,000 have been arranged by the Civil Surgeon after the approval of the Medical Board. But the question is that those whose bills are almost 3 years old are not being paid. Mr. Arora said that the government should prepare a policy regarding the payment of medical bills and fix the payment schedule.
He said that the officers and employees who are competent do not face much difficulty in paying the medical bills. But middle class pensioners and their dependents have to face a lot of problems. On one hand, inflation is increasing so much, on the other hand, government employees who have been working for 30-40 years are facing difficulties even after retirement. Due to expensive treatment they are unable to do so and moreover due to non payment of bills for 2-3 years their problems are further compounded. When we went, they said that they are checking now and it will be cleared soon. While the Civil Surgeon's Office sends reminders, no action is taken by the Director's Office.
Therefore, the government is requested to solve this serious problem of these servicemen and employees as well as pensioners and their dependents and simplify the payment of medical bills and fix a time limit. Along with this, action should be taken against the officials who have stopped payment of bills for 2-3 years. Mr. Arora has appealed to the government to take notice of this matter and take action.